Chef Ian Brandt

General Manager, Chef:

• Sage’s Café
  473 East 300 South
  Salt Lake City, Utah
• Cali’s Natural Foods
  389 West 1700 South, suit c
  Salt Lake City, Utah
• Vertical Diner
  2280 South West Temple
  Salt Lake City, Utah

Education: Bachelor of Health specialization in Travel, Tourism Hospitality and Resort Management and Bachelor of Science school of Economics with a focused education in Environmental Economics

Experience:
18 years of combined restaurant experience
9 years as owner and Executive Chef of The Greens LLC and Sage’s Café
10 years as an organic gardener

Sage’s Café Accomplishments:

• “Best Vegetarian Restaurant Utah” 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 – Reader’s Choice”
• Salt Lake City Weekly
• “4 Star Rating”- Veg Out Publication
• “Top 20 Vegetarian Restaurants for Everyday Dining” Veg News Magazine 2006
• Vegetarian Awakenings Conference, Presenter – 2006, 2007
• Winner 2006 Salt Lake City Farmer’s Market Chef Challenge

Chef Ian Brandt, Culinary Style: Chef Brandt prepares a wide range of cuisine within the vegetarian organic format.  Chef Brandt’s cuisine ranges from gourmet raw, gluten-free, and internationally inspired to eclectic American. Chef Ian creates unique original and trademark recipes with beautiful seasonal touches. Local Utah growers and Chef Brandt’s garden have inspired the Sage’s Café kitchen, guests and beyond.

Chef Ian Brandt, Timeline: Ian Brandt began working in the food service industry at the age of 13, washing dishes.  Then Ian served tables for the 8 years. Ian and Kelsey Brandt opened Sage’s Café in 1999. Sage’s Café is family operated with founder Ian Brandt
as the Executive Chef and General Manager.

For his first 18 years, Ian Brandt lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ian’s grandparents had 50 acres of land in the farm country 20 miles west of Philadelphia which created the framework for his philosophy of seasonal, local and organic foods. “I remember harvesting wild strawberries, raspberries, peas, corn and beans with my grandmother at the age of five years. I also remember helping my grandmother open up her cold frame to cut some fresh parsley and lettuce in early spring. We would harvest apples and make apple sauce every Sunday in the early fall. The corn harvest was a great family time. We would take the tractor through the field collecting the corn and then the corn was blanched and frozen to be consumed throughout the winter. I remember sweet corn pudding as one of my favorites. Both of my grandmothers are no longer alive but their spirit and legacy of land stewards will always carry with me. I hope to share their message to our guests of Sage’s Café, Vertical Diner and Cali’s Natural Foods.”

Ian Brandt is now in the development of two new retail spaces. The Vertical Diner will open in 2006 serving Vegetarian Style American Cuisine in the new arts district in South Salt Lake.

Cali’s Natural Foods will also open in 2006, which will be a retail warehouse, deli serving specialty foods with an organic and local focus.

Sage’s Café Quotes:

• “Utah, it turns out, can be pretty hip. In Salt Lake City, we felt pampered after driving more than 400 miles when we sprung for dinner at Sage's Café. This upscale "vegetarian organic" restaurant features food lovingly prepared from pristine ingredients. It could easily rival some of the Bay Area's best veggie
  restaurants.”
  - Miriam Wolf, San Francisco Bay Guardian
• "To get four stars, it had to be pretty extraordinary, something that I would talk about more than a month later," Mather said. "It's a full-scale vegan restaurant, but you could take your grandmother there, it's a nice place, with a homey feel, and the food is mostly organic,"
  - Andrea Mather, Veg Out Publications
• “In our crispy-fried world of fast food, finger licking, don't-ask-don't-tell secret ingredients and ultra-processed everything, Sage's Café shines like a supernova in the night sky. The beautiful ambiance provides the perfect setting for Sages' sumptuous fare. Old-timey wooden chairs surround marble-topped tables in a room with pale yellow walls, deep green trim and huge windows looking out at the vividly rich greenery of grass, trees and Sages' hanging grapevines. With bunches of delicate grapes dangling overhead, outdoor tables right underneath the mini-vineyard provide a peerlessly enchanting atmosphere”
  –Jenni Koehler, Utah Daily Chronicle
• Sage’s serves some of the most innovative and fresh food in the state while promoting peace of mind through compassionate eating.
  – Kathryn Schoenhals, Catalyst Magazine
• Sage’s Café is different, mostly because its owners are passionate about their lifestyle….Sage’s Café is a wonderful addition to Salt Lake City’s dining scene. It will give you a new appreciation for being green, whether as a plant eater or an environmentally concerned citizen. You might even learn to love tofu.
  – Anne Wilson, Salt Lake Tribune